Snapshots
by EmptyEclipse
Summary: Life in the Legion isn't always about being a hero, sometimes it's just about those snapshot moments. "Why do the bad guys always have better weapons than us?" Some humor, some drama, welcome to LOSH life. Kellwolf. LOSH cartoonverse. Oneshots.
1. Bulletproof

_Disclaimer: I don't own Legion Of Superheroes and I'm not a writer. I apologize to the world. _

* * *

It had never look very hard. It really hadn't. Go in, save the girl. How hard could that be? Brin used to think that being a superhero would be worth all the issues that the adults said that they had. His father used to tell him that being a Hero to the people was the best thing a person could be.

Back then he used to believe him, back then he used to love him. Back then… well, back then, he was stupid.

~*~*~*

Timberwolf let out a savage growl as he ripped through the bars that held back the prisoners, it wasn't nearly as sturdy as it looked, and then jumped back into battle. Vaguely he wondered why none of the people they put away, stayed away. All putting them in jail seemed to do was give them a chance to form new alliances…

Or buy MASSIVE GUNS… shit.

He distinctly heard Lighting Lad repeat the curse as he ducked and took cover.

"WHY do the bad guys _always_ have better weapons then us?" Chameleon boys grumbled, and Timberwolf couldn't help but crack a grin.

"NOT NOW Cham." Brainy retorted, but you could tell from the look on his face he was trying to figure that question out. Brainy can be a bit weird. For example, even though he has a twelfth level intellect, the little guy packs a ridiculous number of guns and half of them do the same thing. Whatever… As long as he's aiming at the bad guys.

It was with those thoughts that he saw it. Well, more specifically he heard it, but ears are practically better then eyes sometimes.

Metal scrapping against metal, the patter of feet, the tell-tale scream. The Hostages had entered from the other side of the room. The scuff of a shoe on the floor and then the ear-piercing scream of a little girl. He was up and running before he even had a chance to think about how stupid this is.

He wasn't bulletproof. He wasn't superiorly intelligence. He was just strong, and furry. Some hero. But then again, there wasn't time for thoughts; there was only time for duck, roll, punch, and attack. He sometimes wondered if he even needed to breathe to fight, and then realized_ daddy dearest_ probably took care of that too.

The enemies were firing round after round but none of them hit. He wondered if it was that he was too fast for them or if they just had really bad aim. He actually laughed out loud at that thought. One) because it would piss off the guys firing at him and two) because even though Brin hated _hated __**hated**_ it, there was a sort of thrill he could only get from fighting.

Eventually, the bad guys get tired of aiming for something they can't hit; so they aim for something they can.

There is this little girl among the hostage's. Blond haired, blue eyed, the poster child for the innocents. And as the guns turn towards her, Timberwolf doesn't even think before throwing himself in front of her. A single bullet collides into his knee as he stumbles forward and crumples. One single bullet

For a second, there is nothing; then mind numbing pain.

Timberwolf will always hate his father for making him this strong monster.

_(But sometimes he hates his father for not making him stronger)_

------

Kell-el is the first person to see it, which is unsurprising because as superman's clone he has like 20 different kinds of vision.

But he's not the first person to move. Oh, he's the first person to get there, but he's not the first person to move.

He freeze's, for the first time in battle since he was 6, half expecting the bullet to glance right off of him. It's just that Timberwolf is (was?) so strong. Like no one else in the league but Kell. Lightning Lad was powerful, but he didn't possess the sheer physical strength to match Kell or Timberwolf. And Kell trained with Timberwolf often, at first because he was the only one who could even land a punch on him, and then because it was routine, comfortable. Kell would even venture to say he enjoyed it. Sparring with someone who understood you and could match you, sparring with someone who had overtime become more then a coworker, but maybe even a friend.

So when he watches Timberwolf throw himself in front of some child (stupid _stupid) _he freezes, and his heart clenches painfully as he watches Timberwolf hit the floor. And he wants to yell at Timberwolf for not being bulletproof, for having gotten hurt, for not just letting the girl die, which he knows is insane. (he hates himself for a second for even considering that but he can't help it)

And as some un-named un-known stupid piece of **shit** cocks his gun and aims it at Timberwolf's face, Kell tries to imagine what life would be like without him

Without someone to spar with

Or to someone who understands his weird jaded humor

Or someone who secretly bakes cookies that they can eat together at midnight

Or someone who sneaks out of the tower with him and introduced him to this centuries life

Or someone who just gets him. And doesn't ask pesky questions about the past.

Someone who-

But he can't even finish that thought, because it hurts way too much, more then he thinks it should, or that it even could.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees lightning lad start running towards Timberwolf (_idiot, there is no way you'll make it in time)_ and it jolts Kell back into motion. He just wasted 2 seconds thinking about what life would be like without him that he hasn't moved to save him.

He's there before the third second had even begun to consider passing, staring down this unnamed man, breaking the gun in his hand. He considers killing the bastard. The fucking imbecile who even tried to touch him, but he refrains. He's a hero now, not a solider. And gods how he wished he wasn't.

He scoops Timberwolf up, surprised by how light he is, and Timberwolf's claws dig into his arm as if trying to remind Kell that he is not a fragile damsel in distress, or perhaps its just a reaction to how much pain he is in? Kell doesn't know and he doesn't care.

Lightning Lad is yelling something, but Kell's brain doesn't even register it.

He doesn't register the bullets that are ricocheting of his back, or how the young girl runs to safety, or Saturn girl disarming the last of the bombs. But he does notice Timberwolf pass out.

So he runs away, turn's his back on a battle for the first time in his life, and concentrates on getting Timberwolf somewhere safe. Somewhere where they can save him. He has to keep reminding himself that he is alive, and breathing and it's okay, he's alive. Oh god he's alive. He can't die, he CANT die. I… I'd… focus Kell. He's alive.

_(He doesn't want to admit it; he can't stand losing him)_

~*~*~

Timberwolf opens his eyes and is greeted by white.

White, colorless walls and white sheets and white pillows and silver shackles. Binding him to the table. He remembers a time when he didn't need them, when he willingly went into whatever experiment that his father wanted, because he loved him. And a part of him still loves him, and that only makes the hate that much stronger.

He whispers a small "no" as he realizes where he is. In some lab, chained to a table, just waiting for his father to walk in and do god only knows what.

No. never again.

So he fights, trying to break the chains that are holding him down but he can't. So he lies there thrashing, miserable.

Was it all a dream?

Did he really never escape? The legion? His friends? Kell? Were they all just a figment of his imagination?

It wouldn't be the first time he's dreamed up worlds where he's escaped, where his father could never touch him again.

But it had felt so real. He was safe, he…

Kell. Kell was real. Figments of your imagination don't know that you secretly love to cook or that your favorite color is green even though your uniform is orange. And they don't work out with you at 3 in the morning because they get what it's like to be restless. And they don't just understand instead of asking questions.

Kell _had_ to be real. It hurts too much if he wasn't.

But somewhere inside, Timberwolf can't seem to forget that he's in that white room with the silver shackles and he shakes and screams and tries as hard as he can to escape (again? He doesn't know).

~%~%~%~

Kell sits and watches, and watches, and watches and if the other members of the legion notice that he doesn't leave Timberwolf's side, they don't comment on it.

Lightning Lad paces and paces. He grows tenser by every passing moment. But the legion goes on and so does he. He lets Kell have his vigil because he knows that he wouldn't ever want to leave Saturn girls side if he was in a similar situation. (He tries hard to forget the coma she was in once, and the downward spiral it sent him on)

So, when Saturn Girl stands up with a stricken look on her face and whispers a small pathetic

"Oh god, Brin!" He gets to his room before her. Lightning Lad is Timberwolf's friend, as is the rest of the core legion. And he is painfully aware that the legion is Brin's **only** friends. He's not perfect all the time, but he knows that he is one of Timberwolf's closest friends. So, when he arrives to the room and sees Kell staring through the one-way glass with a tight expression he gets a little scared. He hates that wall, which from one way looks white and one way allows you to see through. He thinks that the wall should be reversed so that the patient can see out and those waiting can stare at whitewall. Just a blank white room. Because watching Timberwolf thrash about… well, it sucks.

So, he watches, as Timberwolf breaks free of the shackles holding him and rips into the room. Destroying anything he can get his hands on. And he watches as the animalistic fury calms down and leaves Timberwolf, no _Brin,_ standing in the middle of the room desolate and alone in the middle of the room for a couple of seconds before the fury returns and Timberwolf breaks the metal bed in half with one punch.

~*~*

You stupid **idiot**, they were fake, they were **LIES**. You're pathetic, so pathetic. And alone. He thinks, and then he lets his anger take over so he doesn't have to think. His anger at being let down, at being so foolish, at the fucking crappy cards he was dealt in life, and how it was kinda all his fault. So he turns around and punches _something_ because it almost makes his heart hurt less.

(_He feels even more stupid when he realizes he may have had a crush on a figment of his own imagination)_

----

He watches him punch that bed, and suddenly Lightning Lad understands what Saturn Girl's powers must have told her. So he flies to the door and doesn't even bother to use the doorknob, opting instead to break down the door, well aware of the fact that Saturn Girl is on his heals. He is tempted to grab Timberwolf in a giant hug and just keep whispering that they are real and that his father will never touch him again, but he knows that half the legion is watching through the glass and somehow, he doesn't think that Timberwolf will be too happy with that. So he just yells his name, and hopes that that is enough.

(_He wonders why Kell didn't follow him into the room, didn't figure out what's going on, and then he remembers that Kell doesn't know, and somehow, he finds that odd)_

~&~&~

Kell watches through the glass as Timberwolf spins around in an almost savage way to face Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl, and as they exchange rapid conversation he hates the fact that the room is sound proof, he hates that fact that, if he wanted to, he could listen anyways, but that feels somehow wrong,

He wants more then anything to go into that room and, and, he doesn't know what he wants to do but seeing him through the glass suddenly isn't enough. He thinks that if Timberwolf would just smile, then that would be okay. He finds this weird for several reasons. Firstly, why the hell would he smile now? He rarely ever smiles. There is only the rare genuine smile that he shares sometime late at night when they are just hanging out.

Secondly, just because the smile is a rare beautiful thing, why does he feel like everything will be okay if he just gets to see it? Kell wants to laugh at how pathetic he suddenly feels. So he begins his slow walk towards the door, pondering Timberwolf and when he's halfway there he decides it doesn't matter what he feels, all that matters is that Timberwolf is okay

_(When he was one fourth of the way there he decides that he may maybe kinda like him)_

---

For the first time in a long time, Saturn Girl feels stupid. Really genuinely stupid. She should have realized what he would of thought when he woke up alone in that room. She'd been inside his head, she'd seen the terrible things his father had done to him, she'd watched only a fraction of his memories and hospitals began to scare her. They shared a special connection. She knew more then anyone about his past, and he always came to her when he wanted to talk about it. She is close to him, and was from the day they met. She loves him like a brother, and knows he loves her in the same way.

So when she hears his pathetic confession to lightning lad something in her breaks.

"I was chained to the table." He whispers it so quietly that she almost doesn't hear it.

_(But she does, and she should have known)_

~&~&~&~

Kell on the other hand has no difficulty hearing it, which is unsurprising because as superman's clone his hearing is way better than everyone else's. But he doesn't understand it, so he pauses in the doorway and watches as Lightning Lad apologizes over and over again and wonders why.

But Kell was never a patient individual, nor is he particularly sensitive, so he waltzes into the room and says:

"What the **FUCK** is going on?"

Because honestly, these people are his supposed team-mates, and he's getting a little tired of always being out of the loop.

And Timberwolf face twists into something kind of sick and ugly and he smirks

"Remember how you said that you once wished you had parents" he begins and Kell doesn't seem to know where this is going

"Parents are over-rated" and then, he storms from the room. Brushing past Kells shoulder and out the hole in the wall that is being used as the door.

Oddly, Kell is almost happy. Timberwolf is back, of course he's a little angrier, but this is Timberwolf. And he decides that that is good enough for the legion, which makes it good enough for him.

_(If he locks Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad in a room until they tell him everything, and he means everything, that they know, it has nothing to do with anything.)_

-~-~-~-~

Kell walks into the gym 3 days later at 4 a.m. and is unsurprised to see Brin there. According to the hospital he is beyond fully healed, in fact, he may be better than before.

Which means he of course had to instantly hit the gym. So Kell walks into the gym and is unsurprised to see him there. He is surprised when Timberwolf lets out an animalistic growl and attacks

To be fair, they fought all the time, but there was normally _some_ sort of warning, and it had never been so… intense? He could practically see the anger radiating off of Timberwolf.

So, after being thrown into a wall (twice) Kell lets go. He lets all the bottled up anger at not being told, at being so afraid, at **Brin **for being Brin out. And he lets it take over.

and they just rip into each other. Using each other as there personal physical and emotional punching bags.

And after what feels like hours but was actually only 12 minutes, they collapse in the middle of the giant gym, tired yet feeling much much better.

And if Kell trips on a dumbbell when he tries to get up, he thinks it might just be okay, because it was embarrassing, but it sends Timberwolf into a fit of laughter. And for the first time in what seems like forever, there is no jaded, pained edge to the laugh. He's just genuinely happy. Just genuinely laughing

_(Kell doesn't realize it but when he joins in, he's laugh is just as free)_


	2. Homecoming

A/N: still not in charge. Darn.

Quick note: The primary relationship in these one shots is Kellwolf. As in, Superman-X and Timberwolf. As in, slash. Fair warning. Then again, I'm really lazy. So it's highly possible that they'll just stay friends because I never get around to them getting around to it.

Sorry all you Phantomwolf fans. I'm a firm believer in the Ultra Boy and Phantom Girl relationship. Even if this isn't comic book verse and Ultra didn't really get any attention. But yeah. There are like 14 billion verses and in all of them but cartoonland Ultra Boy and Phantom Girl get together. So, in my brain, Phantom girl and Timberwolf will always be just friends.

Also, special thanks to **Mirror's Mirage, Bluebamfergirl****, ****Devilbunnyxox****. **My first three fans ever. I really appreciate your comments. So, This little miserable thing is dedicated to you three. A gift!

Legion22: lots of people ask that. I titled it Snapshots because it's a series of one-shots that are pretty unrelated to each other, except that they are all about Kell-el and Timberwolfs relationships. Yeah… also because I can't think of creative titles. This one's also for you. There will be more grammar issues. Sorry. Feel free to edit in your mind? Or… in reality, and then I will resubmit it?

waaaiiitt…

Uhh. You were talking about the main title, right? I titled the chapter Bulletproof, because… we'll because he's not and that was the issue? I don't really know, but it made sense to me.

In case you cannot tell, I am not the most dedicated of writers. Or talented. But it's all good fun to me. And, well, my best friend threatened me with a big metal pipe to post when I finished this one.

In that same vein of fear, this will probably be the fastest update you ever see. Expect to normally wait years. Or like… decades. It's a gift for y'all. It was supposed to be funny…. But it—well, it isn't.

Uhm… sorry?

But I wrote it for you! Sooo. Uhh. Thanks!

* * *

"I am not sulking. And I am not pouting. And you can go tell Lightning Lad to go suck it."

There was an awkward pause.

"You know what, I think you're being a little _too_ defensive."

"Phantom Girl, I swear to god if you don't shut the **hell **up I'll—"

"Okay, okay. Gosh." She lets out a disgruntled huff and leaves. Her cape swishes dramatically as if to emphasize the unsaid _**jerk**_ in the air.

The doors slid open with a small pfft of air, and almost instantly Timberwolf feels guilty. Phantom Girl was one of his best friends. She may annoy him sometimes, but Brin wouldn't trade her for anything. She's… well, she's pretty awesome.

"Tinya… wait."

She pauses in the doorway, not even turning around.

"You know, it's okay to miss him. " and then she walks out

Brin stares blankly at her retreating back. Her cape and her hair swishing back and forth in freakish symmetry, making Brin think that maybe they have a life of there own. It's a testament to how out of it he is when that thought doesn't even bother him.

But then, the door slides shut and Brin is left staring at the metallic gray and black walls of his room. He sinks slowly back into his chair.

Phantom Girl is a wonderful friend. Actually, Phantom girl is a pretty fantastic friend, and she doesn't cheat with a psychic powers (or a psychic girlfriend), but she still somehow says the right things. He is instantly gripped with the desire to something really nice for her.

Maybe he'll bake her cookies.

Or, better yet, she'd said something about that new guy, Ultra boy? Maybe he'd help with that.

He could play wingman. Wingbeast? Kinda. Yeah. Well, he'd figure it out. How hard could that be?

Images of pink dresses and nail polish float in his head.

Maybe not. The cookies seem like a good idea.

_It's okay to miss him_

Timberwolf snorts. Miss him? That's funny. He's never had a friend to miss before. Besides, they weren't really friends. So, he can't miss him. He doesn't miss him.

He gets up.

And then he sits down.

This is pathetic, he decides.

He gets back up.

_Man, I promise. I'll be nicer to Tinya, lord knows she deserves it. I'll listen more to Saturn girl. I'll stop yelling at Garth to get a room. I'll never make fun of Brainy's superman-obsession again. I get it now. I'm sorry. I just- I just—_

Timberwolf blinks. I just- what? What does he want?

To bring Kell back? No. He wanted to be in the future. He _wanted_ to leave. If Kell wanted to leave, he's welcome to it. To see him one more time? That's stupid. That wouldn't change anything. Plus, it's not like he miss him. He doesn't. He doesn't miss him.

It's just- everywhere he goes, anything he does, there's this scent. _**His**_ scent. Everything smells like Kell. Everything. Everything around him reminds Timberwolf of Kell (His smell, his eyes, his smile) and that kind of hurts.

But no. Timberwolf is not pinning or wallowing or pouting or any of those other girly things that Lightning Lad keeps saying. And maybe most importantly, Timberwolf is **not** missing Superman X.

So he closes his eyes, breathes in, and opens the door.

Days have passed. Weeks have gone by. Life goes on without Kell-el, and that surprises no one. A peace has settled over the team. No major dramas, no life altering sacrifices, no major fights with each other (major fights with the other guys, but that's so routine, they're almost beginning to find it comforting). Even Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lad seemed friendlier then normal.

That, probably, should have been the first tip-off. There's never really harmony for heroes. Whenever a calm settles, it's always right before the storm

Lightning Lad thinks it's appropriate that it's happens on Thursday, the 26th. It's like the one day in the entire year that no president ever has assigned a single holiday. So, it's Thursday the 26th, and The Legion is doing nothing when suddenly a wormhole opens in the middle of the meeting room and a dark figure steps out.

Immediately they all jump to attention. Well, almost all.

"Man, with the way those things keep popping up you'd think we'd get used to it."

Inwardly Garth agrees completely with Chameleon Boy, but his reflexes have other ideas. His left hand is already coated in mini-lightning bolts, ready to be fired.

The wormhole clears and closes behind the figure. The light shifts, the figure is uncovered, and a very familiar face appears.

"Hey."

In his shock, Lightning Lad doesn't even notice that his hand has dropped down to his side, empty and uncharged.

"Kell-el?"

Everything has stopped; the entire room is just standing there staring.

Kell-el feels very uncomfortable. There's too much attention, too many eyes rooting them to where he stands. He swallows and then shrugs awkwardly.

"History said I came back." _I missed it here_

Silence. Kell-el would have commented on his the ability to hear a pin drop, but he can normally hear a pin drop, so he doesn't really feel like that gets the point across.

"Yeah. Sure man. History made you do it" Chameleon boy scoffs, breaking the silence "You totally missed us. You're just not man enough to admit it."

Kell-el just glares at him

"That 'glare of death' thing isn't going to work anymore. I know you're just a big fluffy cuddly little cute adorabl—"

He's cut off by Kell-el demonstrating **why** his glare was called the glare of death, and Chameleon Boy's feet are instantly encased in green crystal.

"uhhmm. Manly, **manly** stoic awesome warrior of good. "

Interestingly, Kell-el trapping one of their fellow teammates to the floor actually puts the rest of the legion at ease, which speaks to a deep level of psychological issue. But hey, they're teenagers who dress up in costumes and fight evil, this sadism is probably the least of their worries.

And that's how, on Thursday the 26th; Kell-el left the future and came home. All of the legionaries swarmed to greet and welcome him, knocking over desks and chairs and whatever was in their path. It's a happy little reunion that's nicely wrapped up and soon everyone will return to his or her regular (or as regular as life is in the league) lives.

Or that's what Lightning Lad thought until Phantom Girl suddenly squealed.

"Ohhh! Wait to Timberwolf hears about this!"

_well…. Shit._

The shower is cold. Actually, the shower is a frigid. It couldn't be colder if it was spewing ice cubes, but Timberwolf isn't really thinking about that. In fact, he's thinking '_god dam fucking hell.' _ Which may seem unnecessary but Timberwolf has been in the shower for three hours, so he feels justified.

'_Note to self,_ _The next time the enemy is an oozing slime ball of gross green goo, no matter how angry you are, do not, I repeat do NOT slash it apart." _

"Did you get that crap out of your hair yet, man?"

There is the sound of rustling fabric as Timberwolf pulls on his uniform and steps out of the shower. His hair is already dry thanks to Brainiac's incredible patented dryer technology, which also interestingly pays for a good deal of the food that they eat.

The irony is not lost on Brin that with all the things that technology has achieved, they haven't thought of a way to stop the shower from running out of hot water.

"uh. Your uniform is kinda… uh… well… it's kinda mine."

Timberwolf does not respond to the statement. He doesn't even look down to check. Instead he glares at Ultra-boy as if to say '_I do __**not **__want to talk about it'_ and promptly rips the right uniform from Ultra-Boy's hand and walks back into the shower stall.

Ultra Boy stands there kind of awkwardly. It had been there first mission together and clearly Timberwolf was not happy. Which makes sense, because they had flown 3 hours to get to the planet that was being "terrorized by The Menace." Yeah. Capital T and M. It was that evil.

Only it wasn't, because Timberwolf took it down in like 3 seconds. Ultra Boy didn't even get a chance to do anything (which he's actually kind of glad about because the whole exploding green puss ball factor), and then Timberwolf had to sit for three hours while the puss solidified from oozy green mucus in his… uhm, fur? before he could get to a shower, and then it took him 3 hours to get the crap off of him. And then, you know, Ultra Boy had handed him the wrong uniform.

So Timberwolf was understandably pissed.

"Lets go." He said. Well no, actually he growled, but that's probably because of the whole angry-beyond -all-reason thing and not because of the whole my-father-is-a-psycho-scientist thing.

"Yeah. Okay. Sure."

There was an awkward silence as they just stood there, not actually doing anything to leave. Timberwolf was staring with disgust at the shower, which was coated in the goo, while Ultra Boy was doing his best to stare at anything other than the shower. Both of them were trying to think of a way to bring up Phantom Girl in conversation.

This whole wingman thing was harder then Timberwolf had anticipated. Ultra Boy was just doing that whole 'I'm a teenage boy thing and therefore am incredibly cowardly when it comes to my crush."

"TIMBERWOLF! COME HERE QUICK!"

Speak of the devil… Phantom girls voice cut through the unbelievably awkward silence. In retrospect, this would have been the perfect time to bring her up without seeming totally random, but they were a little busy running to the entrance of the showers to defeat/fight/epic battle whatever had caused Phantom Girl to yell like that.

That is how they came barreling out of the locker room to come face to face with…

nothing.

Phantom Girl was just standing there, totally normal.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"WHAT!"

Phantom Girl actually jumped back. She shot Ultra boy a quick panicked look that he semi-relished in, and returned with an awkward shrug.

"Uhm… someone is here to see you?"

Timberwolf narrowed his eyes.

"Is it the Chrisionians? If it's the Chrisionians, I'll kill them."

"Tmberwolf, uh, man. Chill out." Ultra boy said in a placating tone, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Timberwolf whirled around knocking away Ultra-Boy's hand and then slamming him into a wall.

_Clearly this is was bad idea, _thinks Ultra-Boy,_ I should give up and move to any planet that was at least 3 galaxies away. _

"Do _**not**_tell me to chill." He's growling again.

_Yup, _Ultra-Boy thinks, _sure, definitely. No problem. Just don't kill me till I've at least __**kissed**__ Phantom Girl. _

Phantom Girl puts a hand on Timberwolf's shoulder.

"Brin. Chill."

_Nooo! Don't do it Phantom Girl! He'll kill you! _Ultra Boy readies himself to jump to her defense, fully aware that he probably will get his ass kicked, but hey, he's young and she's pretty, that's how it's supposed to go.

But surprisingly, he doesn't go ballistic and kill everything in sight. He huffs angrily, then closes her eyes, breathes in, breathes out and slowly turns around.

The anger is still there, but it's tightened into a coil, a snake tightly winding inside of him, waiting to strike.

Ultra-Boy can feel the anger radiating off of him, but Timberwolf has contained it, wrapped it tightly around himself.

"Fine. Whose here?"

Phantom Girl smirks.

"ahah! _That's_ a surprise."

Timberwolf glares at her, but doesn't resist when she grabs his wrist and starts to lead him down the hallway.

Ultra Boy just stands there, his back still against the wall, his jaw slack and one thought reverberating in his brain.

_Why can __**she**__ tell you to chill?"_

"So… you seem very… clean. Any particular reason?"

Timberwolf sighs wearily and glares at Phantom Girl.

"I don't want to know?"

Timberwolf just nods. The air smells like anger, bloodlust and home. It feels familiar, like Kell. But it isn't Kell. Kell is gone. Kell left. Kell chose to leave.

"hhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey!" Ultra Boys voice sounds from the back of the hallway. Phantom girl feels the cords in Brin's wrist tighten as he makes a fist.

"You don't like him?"

Brin actually stop in confusion, blinks and turns to stare at Phantom Girl. She just raises an eyebrow.

"No. I like him." and the funny thing is, he's not even lying. Ultra Boy is fun guy, with a good sense of humor, a good sense of right and wrong. Timberwolf even thinks that him and Tinya would be a good match.

But this wingman thing was so **fucking** hard.

This time it's Phantom girl who blinks.

"Wingman thing?"

_you think will all the other shit, my father could have included a brain-to-mouth valve _

"Well. Yeah. You like him." there is an awkward moment of silence "you **do **like him, right?"

"Yeah… yeah. I do." And she smiles at him.

"Well. Good."

"Yeah. Good."

And then they stand there for a couple of seconds. Just staring at each other. Phantom Girl pleasantly surprised. She loved Brin, like a brother, but she never expected him to… well, to do something like this. It was nice. It was nice to know that he just wanted something nice for her, something that will make her happy and didn't require saving her life or some other crazy stunt. It was such a typical friend thing to do, and in there anything but typical life, it was nice.

Brin was just silently fuming, because, honestly, he's day just sucked.

And when the patter of Ultra Boys feet got close enough, they turned and walked on

"So, who are we going to go meet?" Ultra Boy had finally caught up with them, and had fallen in step next to Phantom Girl. He was smart enough to not stand between the two of them. Phantom Girl may be able to make Timberwolf control his anger, but the anger was definitely there.

"That's still a surprise."

But by the time she had finished that sentence, they were standing in front of the meeting room, waiting for the doors to slide open automatically.

In retrospect, Phantom Girl probably should have known better then to try and surprise Timberwolf. The guy doesn't react well to surprises. In fact, none of them react well to surprises.

Then again, surprises normally mean that evil people are taking over their minds/bodies/base, so that's probably understandable.

For example, Phantom Girl was _surprised _when after two steps in the room; Timberwolf launched himself at the shadowy figure in the corner. And it wasn't for a hug. In fact, they way his claws were out and he was growling, Phantom Girl wasn't even sure why she thought it might be a hug. I mean, how often does Timberwolf hug people?

Of course, she wasn't surprised when the shadowy figure flies up to meet him and they collide in a flurry of kicks and punches. Because Kell-el is nothing if not a warrior, and Kell-el does not back down from a fight.

It takes her a couple of seconds, but she figures out what exactly is going through Timberwolf's mind. The meeting room is completely trashed, because of everyone running to meet Kell. Chameleon Boy is still standing in the middle of the room, incased up to his neck in green crystal. Lightning Lad is lying with his eyes closed on the back of an upturn coach, looking like he was knocked unconscious. He's just sleeping, but the meeting room looks like a battlefield. A battlefield where Timberwolf's friends had been attacked.

I mean really, it's no surprise that he attacked mysterious dark figure number one in the corner.

If, after the impromptu fight turned spar, Timberwolf was smiling… well, Ultraboy knew better to comment.

_This is home._


End file.
